This is part two of a three-part series on hearing loss and the relationship of the three primary elements, or the Trinity of players, involved in facilitating hearing as efficiently as possible. This Trinity includes the family, the hearing-impaired person and the hearing health care provider.
Part Two, The Hearing Impaired Person
“My family complains that I hear what I want to.”
This comment does not occur with normal hearing individuals. With hearing loss, some of the words come through clearly and other words are garbled or not clear. When this happens, the hearing-impaired person has to guess at what was said. If the hearing-impaired person was busy doing something when you first spoke, his or her ears are turned off, not ready to hear you. Another factor that will influence the ability to understand running speech is the background noise. If there are distracting background sounds, it will be more difficult to separate the desired speech from the noise.
TIP: Get my attention, then talk.
“I do not think the problem is me; they all mumble.”
With mild to moderate hearing loss, speech is understandable if the environment is quiet and the other person is looking at them. From the hearing-impaired person’s perspective, he or she can hear clearly when other people speak properly. Others may not realize how much effort it takes to control the noise in the room, turn and face the individual and trigger the hearing impaired person with whom they are about to start talking. You see, when they start talking, they don’t have to do all of those things. Why would they understand what it is like to speak to someone who hears the way they do?
TIP: Get my attention, then talk.
“I don’t usually know if you are talking to me or just talking to yourself.”
A person with a loss of hearing may notice that another person is talking but not know for certain if the conversation is supposed to include them. Unless they are triggered to “listen up” before talking begins, they may assume that they are not supposed to be part of the discussion because they missed the first part of the conversation. If a hearing impaired person is not aware of the extra work it takes to communicate with them, or how much they are really missing, why would they be concerned about changing the way they hear?
TIP: Get my attention, then talk.
“My hearing does not bother me, it just bothers everyone else.”
A large number of hearing-impaired people hear similarly to a normal hearing person after putting fingers in their ears. Try it. As you do this, you will realize that you can follow what is going on with just a little bit of extra attention. Now, turn your back and try to follow what is being said. When you are facing away from the other people speaking or you can’t see their face, it becomes significantly more difficult to continue to focus and, after a while, you may decide to give up. Another factor is that the person with a hearing loss usually had hearing change slowly over many years and will not have the sudden change that you just experienced. In that person’s reality, he or she can follow the important conversations just fine and doesn’t mind letting the small stuff go because it is too much work to follow and it is usually just fluff anyway.
TIP: Get my attention, then talk.
“I don’t see the big deal; they should just talk louder.”
When a person is speaking slowly and facing the hearing-impaired person, all is well. The hearing-impaired person can actually understand most of what is said. So, in the mind of the hearing-impaired person, the problem is that other people just need to look at them and speak properly. A hearing-impaired person may be unaware that they often interrupt their family or friends during a conversation because no one was directing speech to their face. They also do not realize the incidental or side conversations that they may be missing – again, because they are not directed at them. They are not able to calculate the percentage of time they have difficulty in conversations because they don’t really know when they missed something.
TIP: Get my attention, then talk.
You may have noticed that the “tips” were all the same. This one simple (but difficult to remember) action will help tremendously when living or working with someone who has a hearing impairment. Call his or her name and wait for a response, then the floor is yours! FBN
By Dr. Karon Lynn, Au.D
Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit the website at TrinityHearing.net. Karon Lynn is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. Dr. Lynn may be reached at 928-522-0500, or at audio@trinityhearing.net.
